Closure of Blue Hole in Santa Rosa has implications for businesses

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Blue Hole, a New Mexico tourist attraction that draws thousands of people in the summer, is closed to divers and swimmers. Businesses in the area that rely heavily on the influx of summer visitors looking to enjoy all the water recreation the city has to offer are now dealing with the impact of the closure.

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People come from all over the country for the experience, but the recent announcement has drastically reduced the number of people coming to the city. City officials said the closure is due to a large boulder that fell on the west side of the hole, bringing other rocks with it.

Officials said hundreds of rocks now cover the ground. “Public safety is paramount. We’re going to make sure that before we reopen to the public, we make sure that everything is protected and we’re going to try to do more inspections on it,” said Santa Rosa Mayor Nelson Kotiar.

The closure means businesses in town aren’t seeing as many customers as usual, including Comet II Drive & Restaurant, which has been around for more than 90 years. “We rely on the tourists here, and without a lot of the basic necessities that we have here, we don’t have that,” owner Casey Martinez said.

Normally, Martinez said, he expects thousands of customers in the summer. He said business is down 30% to 40% since the closure. “We have the divers that come here. On any given weekend, we have 100 divers here. Now we’re lucky if we have five or 10,” Martinez said.

City officials said they will conduct more inspections and expect the location to open within two to four weeks.

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